Northern Bottlenosed Whale

The northern bottlenose whale, belonging to the toothed whales, is about 7-10 m in lenght.

The bottlenose whale is brownish in colour and is rarely seen in inlets and bays, preferring deeper waters. No other whale species, except the sperm whale, dives as deep as the northern bottlenose whale. Even though it is a toothed whale it doesn’t have many teeth, only the male has 2-4 teeth in the lower jaw and the female none. The bottlenose whale feeds mainly on fish.

The northern bottlenose whale can remain submerged for more than an hour, but usually surfaces within half an hour of diving. The spout is low and difficult to spot and the breathing cycle is 3-4 times before diving. The bottlenose whale rarely fluke, but is known to leap.

The population size in Icelandic waters is believed to be around 40,000 animals. They keep to deeper waters in the South-East of Iceland in wintertime, but venture closer to shore in the summer.